


Funny How Things Turn Out

by fannyvonfabulus



Series: The Cavill Files [8]
Category: Henry Cavill - Fandom
Genre: Companion Piece, F/M, Getting Back Together, Older Characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:27:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26307073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fannyvonfabulus/pseuds/fannyvonfabulus
Summary: 10 Years Later and you’re celebrating your 50th birthday with your nearest and dearest. But one of the guests is someone that you ever thought you’d see again.
Relationships: Henry Cavill/Reader
Series: The Cavill Files [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1821538
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36





	Funny How Things Turn Out

**Author's Note:**

> Can be a stand alone, or can be taken as a companion piece to Sometimes Love Just Isn't Enough.

**10 YEARS LATER**

It's been a great few days surrounded by friends and loved ones as they help you to celebrate your 50th birthday. And now you’re celebrating in the garden of your childhood home with just your very nearest and dearest. Your heart is so full and you’ve laughed more in the past week than you think you’ve done in all your 50 years. You’ve reflected on your life with the people you love, lamented some of your past, voiced your regrets and cried with your friends about all the losses and raised a glass to those who have passed on already. You can feel the love in every laugh you hear, every embrace and every kiss to your cheek.

You’ve had a rollercoaster of a decade, that’s one thing for sure. Your career had taken off to the point that you could consider early retirement once your birthday weekend is over if you really wanted to. You’re fit and healthy and you have people in your life who love and support you.

Life is good.

Except for perhaps one thing.

After Henry, you haven’t been in any sort of meaningful relationship. You’ve enjoyed brief flings and the occasional hook up, but Henry was it for you. He was your person and you haven’t wanted to think about anyone else like that. Perhaps it’s unhealthy, but right now in this moment, you know that your life has been good and fulfilling, and you don’t need a partner to validate that. You’re strong and independent and being single doesn’t change any of that. Sometimes you think it would be nice to share a life with someone again, to share space with a partner. You find yourself sometimes missing that intimacy and miss the mundanity of things like sharing breakfast with someone, or coming home to a partner after a long day at work. But whenever you linger on those thoughts, the person in your mind’s eye always ends up morphing into Henry and you have to shake your head to be rid of the image.

You made your decision all those years ago and you know that deep down, you made the right one. Henry had gone on to marry and have the family he’d always craved, which had made you both overjoyed for him and heartbroken for yourself at the same time. For months after you had left him standing in the doorway of the home you shared together, he had tried to reach you, tried to convince you to change your mind, but you had stayed strong. What’s that saying? If you love someone, set them free? And that’s exactly what you’d done for Henry. It didn’t matter that doing that had broken you because as long as Henry was happy, that’s all that mattered. 

He’s tried to contact you over the years every now and then, but you’ve never replied. You still share a few friends, which is inevitable after having shared a life together for those years. The other thing that comes from that is said friends sporadically dropping tidbits of Henry’s life into conversation, which has been both crushing and amusing over the years. You’re secretly pleased that you get the real stories rather than whatever the gossip magazines and websites like to put out there. 

The most surprising thing though about having shared friends with Henry is that given all the weddings, christenings, birthdays and funerals over the last decade, you’ve never both ended up being at one together. Perhaps it's planning on the part of your friends, perhaps it's just luck, but either way you’re grateful.

That is, until now.

As you laugh raucously at something your sister just said, you see him on the other side of the garden, a soft smile on his face as he watches you snort with laughter. It stops your heart in your chest and you almost choke on the giggle in your throat. Your sister and two friends that you’re sitting with follow the direction that your wide eyes are staring in and then share knowing looks between themselves as they make moves to get up and leave.

“Don’t you fucking _dare_ ,” You hiss at your sister, had shooting out to grab her arm so stop her from leaving you as Henry starts to slowly walk over to you.

“Oh no, i’m not hanging around for any second hand embarrassment boo,” She chuckles and extricates herself from your grip. “It's been ten years, you’ll be fine."

The look on her face is all too knowing and sneaky for this to be a coincidence, so you glare at her as you stand and watch her scuttle away out of reach. You’ll be having words later, that’s for sure.

“Hi Y/N,” Henry’s voice comes from behind you, the low timbre still so familiar to you. You take a deep breath, steel yourself and then turn to face the love of your life. He’s still as beautiful as he’s ever been, the past decade making him more so. Now in his late 40’s, there is grey at his temples, and twisting through those glorious brown curls. There are more laughter lines around his eyes and his mouth, but his eyes still twinkle knowingly, and the soft smile he’s wearing is the same as it was back then.

He’s breathtaking.

“Hi,” You manage after drinking him in. “I take it that Lizzy invited you?”

“How did you guess?” Henry chuckles softly and you both roll your eyes because of _course_ it was Lizzy.

“But why _did_ you come?” You have to ask because why _is_ he here? After all this time, why now?

“Can’t a guy come and say happy 50th to an... old friend?” Henry’s eyes turn sad, some of their sparkly fading in the gentle glow of the fairy lights strewn around the garden. You study his face intently for a moment, watching the storm of emotions flit across his face in quick succession. Sadness, hope, nervousness, resignation, they’re all there. When he starts to shift a little from foot to foot, you sigh.

“OK, fine. Come on then. I’ll probably end up regretting this but let's go and get a drink…”

**.oOo.**

Hours later and almost everyone has gone home. It’s just you and Henry still in the garden, sitting side by side on sun loungers and savouring some truly excellent single malt that was one of your many birthday gifts. Over the course of the evening and into the night, Henry had slotted right back in as though the last 10 years had never happened. It both disturbs you and makes you deeply wistful for the past. A very tiny part of you wonders what it would have been like if you had stayed and tried to start the family that he has always wanted. If that tiny part of you ignores the fact that you would have ended up hating Henry as well as the children you would have carried, you wonder if you could have been happy eventually. It’s a ridiculous thought.

“You did the right thing you know,” Henry says softly, breaking your thought. “Ten years ago, you did the right thing.”

“I know,” You say

“I hated you for it,” Henry goes on, staring out at the garden as he swirls the whisky in his glass. “It broke me and I hated you for it.”

“If it helps, I was pretty broken myself,” You murmur.

“It doesn’t help, but I appreciate the sentiment,” Henry smiles, but it doesn't quite meet his eyes.

“It was the hardest thing i’ve ever had to do, but it was the _right_ thing. For both of us,” You say grimly, lips set in a firm line. “I couldn’t bear the thought of you ending up hating me, so I left.”

“I could never hate you Y/N,” Henry almost whispers, turning to face you. “Never.”

“Yeah, well. Hindsight is a wonderful thing my friend,” You sigh and knock back the rest of the whisky on your glass before reaching to pour yourself another. “How are the kiddos anyway? Three of them, right?”

“Yeah, three of the little terrors,” Henry’s smile is so fond that it makes your heart ache. “Two girls and a boy. All under 6 and all whirlwinds of destruction that I love deeply.”

“I’m glad,” You smile, content that he got what he always wanted. “I’ve only ever wanted nothing but happiness for you Hen, you know that, right? You deserve that.”

“I do,” Henry smiles back. “I didn’t back then, but I realised it along the way.”

“Good, i’m glad.”

You both lapse back into a comfortable silence for a while, both savouring your drinks and listening to the garden nightlife as the last of the late summer sun fades into

“Go to dinner with me?”

Henry’s sudden question startles you out of your quiet contemplation so hard that some of your drink slops out the side of your glass when you jump.

“Excuse me?”

“Go to dinner with me,” Henry has turned himself to face you, eagerness in his eyes as well as a little bit of craziness. “Please?”

“Preeeeetty sure that your wife might have something to say about that Henry,” You feel your entire face shut itself off into a blank expression.

“She’s not my wife anymore. Hasn’t been for quite some time now actually,” Henry explains. “We just haven’t made it public yet to try and protect the kids for as long as possible.”

“Is that why you came here tonight, because you thought…you thought….” You can feel the anger rising so fast you almost feel dizzy with it as you get to your feet ready to walk away. How _dare_ he...

“NO! No, that’s not why,” Henry quickly stands himself and reaches for you to stop you from walking away. “I came because Lizzie invited me and I wanted to say happy birthday, that’s all, I swear. I figured, what harm can it do after 10 years.”

“Then why the everloving _fuck_ are you asking me out for dinner?” You ask, arms crossing over your chest defensively. 

“Because a decade is a long time, but my feelings have always been the same,” Henry takes a step closer. “I realised that as soon as I saw you tonight, and yes, I know how that sounds. Can you give me the chance to get to know you again Y/N?"

“Have you got _any_ idea how you sound right now Cavill?” You huff, still angry but melting rapidly. He always managed to do that, melt away any anger you had.

“Pathetic, I know,” Henry ducks his head with a soft chuckle before looking at you through his lashes with a pout that he _knows_ you could never resist. “But you’re my person Y/N, you always have been.”

“Fucking hell Henry…” You can feel your eyes prickling with tears because if you’re being honest with yourself, he’s always been your person too. You’d known that then, and you know that now. It's never changed and it probably never will. And who knows? Maybe the last years had to happen for you both before it bought you both back here to this moment.

“That’s not a no.”

“Ask me again.”

“Hi, I’m Henry. What’s a lovely girl like you doing in a place like this?” Henry says, taking another step closer and reaching for your hand, hope in his eyes and the mischievous smile that you still know so well on his lips. “Come to dinner with me?”

“Hi Henry, I’m Y/N, and i’d be delighted.”


End file.
